After weighing all of the pros and cons with his parents, Cambridge (Mass.) Buckingham Brown & Nichols Brendan O'Neil committed to Wake Forest Thursday evening, June 14.

"I took a lot of visits to a lot of different schools, and I really was most impressed with the facilities, the campus and the coaches and the general football of Wake Forest," O'Neil said. "The team looks really solid, and I think we have a great chance of winning an ACC Championship soon and also the academic qualities and reputation of Wake Forest is great."

He added his commitment is solid, and that he will be Demon Deacon in 2013.

"I just want to get down there and help the Demon Deacons win an ACC Championship," O'Neil said.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound O'Neil said Wake Forest offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Steed Lobotzke, who is his primary recruiter, was very excited when he informed of his decision to join the Demon Deacons.

"He [Lobotzke] said we're going to accomplish some great things together at Wake Forest over the next four or five years," O'Neil said.

O'Neil, who is rated as a three-star recruit, the nation's No. 35 tight end and the No. 5 overall prospect in Massachusetts by Rivals.com, chose Wake over scholarship offers from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Temple. Duke, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Nebraska, Notre Dame, South Florida, Stanford, Syracuse and Virginia also showed interest.

"I really liked UConn a lot, because the coaching staff is just a great group of guys down there and I got to know them pretty well," O'Neil said. "It came down to UConn and Wake Forest."

"I visited Wake twice. I visited them once in Spring Break in March, and I just visited them last week [Thursday, June 7]. It was just an unofficial visit to become more comfortable with the coaching staff and what they do and how they run their program."

O'Neil said he is balanced as a blocker and as a receiver with the ability to stretch the field.

"Coach Lobotzke was one of the coaches that recognized that I have the ability to make some big catches and help the offense the chains," O'Neil said. "I think sometimes I can be overlooked, because I do have a lot of blocks on my tape and on my film."